1. 10 Genetics - Potato & Onion People
The ‘Vegetable People’ are an isolated population of people living on Vegetabilia; an island in the middle of ’Nowhere Sea’. They come in all shapes and sizes. Just like human, they have characteristics that are passed from parent to child.
Part One : Background
There are two sexes: females are onions and males are potatoes.
There are five other characteristics that can differ between individual Vege People.
Eye Colour
Nose Type
Arm Length
Feet/Toes
Hair colour
Blue pin
Big red drawing pin
Long straw
Toes
Cream wool
Green pin
Small red pin
Short Straw
NO toes
Red wool
Below is a list of all the possible phenotypes and their corresponding genotype(s) for each trait
Characteristic
Phenotype
Genotype(s)
Responsible Allele
GENDER
Female onion XX X
Male potato XY Y
EYE
BLUE pin
BB or Bb B
COLOUR
GREEN pin bb b
NOSE
Big RED drawing pin
RR or Rr R
SIZE
Small RED pin rr r
ARM
Long Straw
LL or Ll L
LENGTH
Short Straw ll l
FEET
Toes
TT or Tt T
TYPE
NO Toes tt t
HAIR
CURLY wool
CC or Cc C
STRAIGHT wool cc c

2. TASK 1: TASK 2: TABLE 2 : Ma & Pa TASK 3: (5 marks) Dominant Trait
From the information in the previous table; list the dominant and recessive characteristics
(5 marks)
Dominant
Trait
Recessive
TASK 2:
(6 marks)
Two Vegetable people, Ma Onion and Pa Potato, have an offspring. The offspring of vegetable people are know as Vegemite’s.
There are a number of possible characteristics that a Vegemite may inherit from these parents. First you need to find out what these are
Complete table 2 below for Ma Onion and Pa Potato filling in what the phenotype will be for each characteristic.
TABLE 2 : Ma & Pa
Characteristic Ma
ONION Pa
POTATO
Genotype
Phenotype
Gender XX XY
Eye colour Bb bb
Nose Rr rr
Arm Length Ll
Feet Type Tt
Hair colour Cc cc
TASK 3:
Use Punnet Squares to predict the ratios of the Vegemite’s for each of the traits.
(12 marks) P a Ma X Y P a Ma P a Ma P a Ma P a Ma P a Ma
Ratio of
male/ female Vegemites.
% Male _______
% Female _______
Ratio of blue/green EYES?
% Blue Eyes ______
% Green Eyes _______
Ratio of
big / small NOSES
% BIG Nose _______
% Small Nose _______
Ratio of long/ short ARMS
% Long Arms _______
% Short Arms _______
Ratio of
toes/ NO TOES
% Toes _______
%NO Toes
_______
Ratio of
curly/straight
HAIR
% CURLY hair _______
% Straight Hair _______

3. TABLE 3 : Vegemite Offspring
PART 2 : Experiment
The allele for each trait that Ma and Pa possess, have been placed in containers.
In sexually reproducing organisms, new individuals arise a s a result of egg (female sex cell) and sperm (male sex cell) combining in a process called fertilisation. The egg and sperm only contain ONE allele for each trait.
Which allele is present is a totally random process, in other words there is an equal likelihood that either allele is passed on, whether it is the same type or different.
TASK 4:
(6 marks)
In table groups collect a set of containers with the alleles in them.
Each container has 4 alleles for one characteristic for Ma (2xred) and Pa (2xblue)
Select one ‘red’ and one ‘blue’ stick from the container.
ie one allele from Ma and one allele from Pa
This is the genotype of your Vegemite. Write this genotype in Table 3 and then determine the phenotype that will be shown
Continue for all five traits in the table and the sex of your Vegemite.
TABLE 3 : Vegemite Offspring
Characteristic
Genes
Vegemite Offspring
From MA
From PA
Genotype
Phenotype
Heterozygous/
Homozygous
Gender
Eye colour
Nose
Arm Length
Feet Type
Hair colour
TASK 5:
(3 marks)
Have your table checked by your teacher before proceeding.
Make your Vegemite offspring using the body parts provided according to your table.
Give your Vegemite offspring a name and then draw a colour picture
The picture is to be at least 8cm tall, this is your ‘baby photo’ so include lots of detail in your picture/diagram.
Attach the picture to this work.

4. From Punnet Squares Task 3
(6 marks)
In task 3, you used punnet squares to predict the frequency of each characteristic.
EG : 50% chance of female (onion), 50% chance of male (potato)
Record these values in Table 4 below in the Predicted Frequency column.
The Gender is completed for you.
You will need to collect class totals for each characteristic of the Vegemite offspring.
Example: how many offspring were female (onion), how many were male (potato)?
Record this information in Table 4
TABLE 4 : Vegemite Class Totals
Characteristic
Dominant Phenotype
Predicted Frequency
Recessive Phenotype
Class TOTAL
From Punnet Squares Task 3
Gender
(potato)
50%
(onion)
Eye colour
(blue)
(green)
Nose
(big red pin)
(small red pin)
Arm Length
Feet Type
Hair colour
Q1. How do the expected (predicted) ratios compare to the observed ratios obtained by the class?
Described for each trait (i.e. were they higher or lower than expected?)
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

5. Q Explain the term genotype and phenotype, homozygous and heterozygous, dominant and recessive. You might like to use Ma or Pa’s genetic information to support your explanation
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(6 marks)
Q 3. Use the ratios you determined in Task 3 to help answer the following question.
If Ma and Pa vegetable had 40 offspring how many Vegemites’ would have each characteristic?
(6 marks)
Characteristic
Variation
Number in family with this characteristic
GENDER
Female
Male
EYE
BLUE pin
COLOUR
GREEN pin
NOSE
Big RED drawing pin
SIZE
Small RED pin
Characteristic
Variation
Number in family with this characteristic
ARM
Long Straw
LENGTH
Short Straw
FEET
Toes
TYPE
NO Toes
HAIR
CURLY wool
COLOUR
STRAIGHT wool
Q A widow’s peak hairline dominates over the recessive straight hair line. A woman who is homozygous for widow’s peak has a child with a heterozygous father. What is the probability that the child will carry the recessive gene? Show all working.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(3 marks)